


Around Again

by serenbach



Category: Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Mild Angst, Yuletide 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-20 14:38:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17024529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/pseuds/serenbach
Summary: Lightning had forgotten about the cycles until she was summoned to fight in them again.This time it turns out that there are things she doesn't want to forget when she makes it home.





	Around Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweet_and_sour_candy_77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweet_and_sour_candy_77/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, sweet_and_sour_candy! You said in your letter than you also like Warrior of Light/Lightning which is my dissidia otp so I was thrilled to have the chance to write it for you! Thank you for the prompt, hope you enjoy.
> 
> Thank you also to Rannadylin for the beta too!

Lightning had forgotten about the cycles until, between one blink and the next, she was standing in a barren, desolate world and it all came rushing back to her.

Cosmos and Chaos, the manikins, the fights, her companions and her enemies. All that she had fought for in this realm was clearly pointless, as she had been summoned to fight again.

The newcomer dressed all in black in front of her didn’t seem all that happy with the situation either.

“Lightning,” a soft voice said behind her, and she swiftly turned, her hand falling away from the hilt of her blade when she saw the speaker. A confusing onslaught of memories rushed through her as she recognised him.

The Warrior of Light was staring at her, his eyes wide and startled, his lips parted in shock. “Lightning, how are you here?” he asked, not looking away from her face.

“I guess Cosmos summoned me again,” she replied, feeling a stab of anger at the presumption. The anger was the only thing she was sure of.

The Warrior shook his head. “Cosmos is no more,” he replied, his voice sombre.

“Then how –?” she began, but the Warrior tugged off his helm and stepped closer.

“Lightning, we thought that you had died, permanently. When you were not summoned in the next cycle, I thought you were lost to us forever.” There was real grief in his voice, and Lightning was abruptly reminded that they had been close allies in her last cycle, perhaps even friends, despite their differences.

He’d wanted to save her, after all, even though she strongly disagreed with his methods.

She couldn’t quite suppress a shudder at the memory of her last stand, of being overwhelmed by the endless wave of manikins at the end, the sudden ghostly sensation of a dozen blades cutting through her skin.

The Warrior noticed, and reached out a hand as if he intended to comfort her, but let it fall away before he reached her. “And yet, you’re here.” His smile was sudden and warm.

“Uh, where is here?” the stranger asked, but Lightning was too focused on the Warrior to reply.

“There has been another cycle since I was last here, then?” she asked, and he nodded.

“We thought we had ended the cycles for good last time,” he said. “Cosmos died to ensure our final victory.”

“Yet here we are again,” Lightning said dryly. “Back to fight at the whim of some god.”

“We should see who summons us,” the Warrior agreed, replacing his helm.

“And find out how to get home?” the newcomer said, looking between them in bewilderment.

“And find out how to get home,” Lightning agreed, as the Warrior fell into step behind her.

\---

It might not have been Cosmos that summoned her, but fighting for Materia was familiar in every other way. A god who cared little for the will of those who she summoned, and who would knowingly put her servants in danger to benefit herself.  

Lightning turned away from her sanctum, seething to herself. Why should she care if Materia’s realm failed?

“You look angry,” the Warrior observed, coming after her.

“When has a god ever cared about what we want?” she snapped. “Why bring us here like this?”

“Materia inherited Cosmos’ will. I will serve her,” he replied calmly, and that annoyed her just as much.

“She never deserved your devotion,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

The Warrior only raised an eyebrow, a small smile on his face. “I missed having these debates with you.”

Lightning hesitated, slowing to face him, uncharacteristically taken aback.

“Cosmos saved my life,” he reminded her when it became clear she was not going to reply.

“And now her successor is endangering it.” Lightning put her hand on her hip and glared. She didn’t want to fight with an ally who was just as helpless as her in the face of a god’s demand, especially not him, not now. She didn't want to do Materia's work for her. 

“Your armour is different,” he added when they had both been silent for some time, clearly not wanting to argue either.  “How are things in your world?”

“A lot has happened in my world. Not all of it good.” She sighed and looked back at him. “And yours?”

“At peace,” he replied, his gaze far away. “I had found my place. I confess, I did not expect to return here, but I will do my duty, and I will do my best to find a way to return you to your world.”

Lightning looked at him closely. He had never been anything but sincere, even when they argued.

She trusted him.

“Thank you,” she said, and left the sanctuary, conscious of his eyes on her as she walked away.

And, as it turned out, not just his eyes.

\---

“So,” Bartz exclaimed cheerfully. “You and the Warrior of Light, huh?”

She glanced over at him, not sure what he meant. “Focus on the fight,” she replied instead, parrying a blast of magic away from his face.

“Aw, should have let it hit me, I’d have learned it then!” He gave her a cheerful salute before diving back into the action.

“Well,” Zidane said, skidding up next to her with his daggers drawn. “I think it’s romantic! Light and Lightning, drawn together by fate and danger! Sounds like something out of a play!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lightning snapped, turning away from him and facing the manikins again.

“Suuuree you don’t!” he called after her, before somersaulting out of danger with a yelp as a fireball threatened to singe his tail.

Lightning rolled her eyes. She had forgotten, somehow, how _enthusiastic_ some of her companions in this realm were.

“Seriously,” Zidane said when the fight was done. “Maybe you should talk to him. You’re both so serious, you could do with some fun.”

“I’m not here to have fun.” She started walking towards the next rift. “I’m here to find my way home.”

“Yeah, but who knows how long that will be?” Bartz pointed out. “No one would blame you for seeking out a little happiness while you’re here.”     

Lightning passed through the rift without comment, coming out into another unfamiliar world.

She sighed to herself, but her mind was not on her location, but on the way the Warrior had looked at her the last time they spoke, before she shook it out of her mind, annoyed at herself.

She was done with this place. She wanted to go home.

\---

The problem was that her body remembered fighting alongside the Warrior as if they had last fought together just the day before. They'd always defended each other, before. They dodged and dived around each other effortlessly, the Warrior guarding her back with his shield and her ducking under his guard to stab the enemy that threatened him.

It was easy, like they had always fought together like this, as if they _belonged_ somehow. Lightning had never known what to make of it.  

“Nice job,” she called out as she leapt over the fallen manikin and towards the next enemy.

When the fight was done, he turned to her with blood on his face and in his silver hair. He was breathless, but he nodded at her courteously, wiping the blood away with a faint grimace.

The sight of it made her even angrier, somehow. “You’re hurt,” she said, and it came out more like an accusation than an expression of concern, but he didn’t seem offended.

“I am quite well,” he assured her. “Thanks to your timely assistance.”

She looked from the blood on his face to the gateway in the distance. The whole world felt different in this cycle, and not in a good way.  “Something is _wrong_ here,” she told the Warrior, stepping closer to him, frustration colouring her voice. “This whole world is wrong.”

He inclined his head in agreement. “We go to speak to Spiritus,” he informed her, and Lightning stared at him in surprise. She would have never expected to hear that from him.

“I do not think he is the enemy,” he said, and he sounded so certain. “ You are right, Lightning, there is something wrong with this world and I think it will take all of us, the champions of Materia and Spiritus alike, to fix it.”

Lightning crossed her arms and shook her head. “Typical. It always takes mortals to fix a god’s mess.” She lifted her head and met his eyes. “I will fight with you.”

She _hated_ that she had been taken away from her world, her family, the people who needed her so desperately. But she would not let her allies and friends in this realm stand alone. She would not allow _him_ to fight without her.       

The Warrior reached forward and grasped her shoulder tightly, just once, for a long moment. “I have not forgotten my promise,” he murmured like it was an oath that bound them, and Lightning stared after him as he headed back over to Cecil and Noctis, who – by the sound of their relieved cries – had been searching for him.

It wasn’t until he had left that Lightning realised that she hadn’t said goodbye. The image of him, smiling at her even when he was hurt, _beautiful_ somehow, stayed with her. She wasn’t used to feeling like this. She had wanted for so long to be strong, to be _enough_ that she had pushed everyone away, even those she shouldn’t have.

She’d got better at not doing that, or so she had thought. But this felt different, in a way she couldn’t define. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel.

But she wanted… _something._ She hoped to see him again, to understand.

Seeing Bartz and Zidane grinning in the distance didn’t make things easier, either. She really needed to find a less chatty travelling companion. 

\---

Some of the people she fought alongside were familiar to her, others were not. She had not known Terra in the last cycle, but as she hit the manikin that had Lightning pinned down with a blast of magic, enough to allow her to scramble to her feet, she was relieved they had met in this one. 

“Thank you,” Lightning said when the manikins were defeated, and they had room to breathe, and the other woman smiled back, shy but pleased.

 “So, we’re almost done,” Terra said, sounding unsure. “Do you think we can find a way to save this place, and go home?”

“I do,” Lightning said. “We’ll make it work.”

Terra smiled suddenly, the uncertainty melting away. “Yes… I think so, too. I fight where I choose now; all of us do. We will go home to the people who need us.”

“Yes,” Lightning said, carefully not thinking any further than that, ignoring the cold feeling creeping into her heart. “It’ll be over soon.”

“I hope we will all meet again, somehow, though,” Terra said, biting her lip. “I’ve made so many friends here, I don’t want to say goodbye, or to forget again.”

“Do you think we can?” Lightning asked her, curious. “On our own terms?”

Terra lifted her chin, a determined look creeping over her face. “I know it! I have seen and done too much to doubt it.”

“Yeah,” Lightning answered softly, suddenly sure of her path. “I know it too.”

\---

Lightning took a fierce sort of pleasure in the battle against Spiritus' champions. There was no true danger, no risk of life, just a clash to create enough energy to draw out their true enemy, the real threat to the this world. She'd ended up fighting back to back with the Warrior at some point, and that was exhilarating too, in its own way. She caught his eyes as they landed a joint blow on Golbez only to find that he was laughing with the joy of battle in a way she had never seen from him before, and something twisted inside her.

As much as she wanted to go home, she didn't want whatever this was that was growing between them to be over. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Plainsgorger unfurling its wings above them, and the battle turned again, but always he was at her side. 

When at last the dragon finished writhing in its dying agony, Lightning gripped the Warrior’s arm. They had done all they could, the realm was saved, Materia and Spiritus were summoning their power to send them home, and she still had so much she wanted to say to him.

He looked at her again, his face soft. “You’re going home. The cycles are over for good.”

“You kept your promise,” Lightning said fiercely, clutching her crystal tightly. “Now I make one to you. I won’t forget you, and I will find you again, without interference from the gods or anything else. And then…”

“And then,” he agreed softly. “Yes. If anyone can, it’s you, Lightning.”

His other hand rose to cover hers on his arm, and perhaps he leant forward, but before anything else could happen she was thrust away from him in a rush of golden light as the world faded around her.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the chaos of her own world, but her memories were her own, clear but distant, and she held onto the image of blue eyes looking into her own above all.

She would find a way to see him again.

**Author's Note:**

> It always bothered me a little that the characters like Lightning who were meant to have permanently died in dissidia 012 were back in NT with no one mentioning it, so that was what I ended up focusing on in this. 
> 
> I like to think they all find a way to meet up again post dissidia. Meanwhile, memory!Warrior and memory!Lightning are busy flirting back in Materia's realm. so really it's the best of both worlds. 
> 
> Thank you again for the prompt! <3


End file.
